dickinson



(N o Model.) I 2 Sheets-Sheet \1.

' J. H. DICKINSON.

AERIAL TRAMWAY.'

No. 495,397. Patented Apr. 11, 1893.

TN: Norms mens co.. Puo

(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 2.

J. H. DICKINSON. AERIAL TRAMWAY Patented Apr. l1, 1893.

wpneofean' TH: ohms Eriks cafmomm'no.. WASHINGTON. D. c.

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH H. DICKINSON, OF TRENTON, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE TRENTONIRON COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

AERIAL TRAMWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Application filed August 31, 1892.

To all whom it may concern.-

3e it known that I, JOSEPH H. DicxINsoN, a cltizen of the United States,residing at Trenton, in the county of Mercer and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Aerial Tramways;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of my invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to that class of aerial tramways wherein atraveling carriage from which is suspended the load to be transportedmoves upon a tram-rope; and more particularly to that class of suchtramways as is used in the moving or skiddingV of logs from point topoint. Such tramways have heretofore been constructed in forests, andtrees have been usedas supports or standards for the tramway proper andits auxiliary cables, and as well for anchoring the same, but theyhavebeen limited to single spans owing to inherent limitations in theirconstruction, and when the trees within a comparatively small area` havebeen felled and shipped, it has been necessary to remove the structureto another location, and also to construct new railways or roads leadingto the new location of the delivery end of the tramway.

The object of my invention is materially to increase the length andefficiency of such tramways by providing a cheap but substantialstructure, comprising two or more spans, which may be quickly removedwhen necessary, and more readily re-erected and adj usted than those nowin use, thus obviating such frequent removals and extensions of therailway or road upon-which the logs are shipped when delivered at thedelivery end of the rope tramway.

The principal features of my said inventionA are the multiplication ofthe spans between the terminal supports, means for passing the travelingcarriage over the intermediate supports, the automatic adjustment of thetramrope, and the improved means for adjusting the same when the plantis being set up.

I shall now describe my invention more fully, having reference to theaccompanying Patent NO. 495,397, dated April 11, 1893.

Serial No. 444,631. (No model.)

improved tramway or skidding apparatus as shown in operation. Fig. 2shows a side view of the delivery end of the apparatus showing tram-ropeor carrying cable. Fig. 3 presents a View of the same, showing theauxiliary shifting apparatus for loading the logs on cars, Wagons, Jac.Fig. 4 shows a pair ofin-` termediate tramway supports sustaining ashifting saddle or joint supporting the tramrope or carrying cable, andFig. 5 shows a side elevation of the carrying device or carriage withits depending sheave.

In the drawings A and B are trees formingthe terminal support A and thesupport C forming the supports of the auxiliary system at the deliveryend of the main cable way.

D, D are intermediate supports of the main system. Y

E, E, E are anchorages at the ends of the cable Ways to which areattached cables connected with the end supports of the systems toprevent displacement. The tram-rope or carrying cable a is anchored tothe middle stump E beyond the terminal support B, is carried upward andfirmly attached in any appropriate manner to the support B at asuihcient height to' cause the logs to be conveyed thereon to properlyclear obstructions in their path under the cable, and is extendedbetween the supports D, D, and preferably clamped in the swinging saddleg, and made fast to the sheave h near the support A, as shown in Figs. 2and 3. The auxiliary cable b is'attached at one end by a chain to thesupport A, as shown in Fig. 2, and passes up ble b, and is sufficientlyheavy to hold the said be duly proportioned to the load to be sustainedby the cables. A Weight of six tous would thus exert a tensile strain oftwelve drawings, in which- Figure l represents a general view of my tonsupon the main cable a by reason of the the means for automaticallyadjusting the.

the terminal supports of the main tramway,

the support A over asheave t' to and through the sheave t and notshowing in the drawings, and across to the sheave 2 upon the support asa compensating balance to the loads car' ried upon the main cable a andauxiliary ca-v cables taut when in use, and must, therefore,

cable passing through the sheave h, and would at the same time exert astrain of only six tons on the auxiliary cable b; the extra strain uponthe cable a being utilized to support the long spans of the cable a aswell as the load traversing the same.

Between the supports A and C is located a steam winch or engineoperating drums for winding the cables in the usual manner. These drumsj, 7c and l, shown in Fig. 1, are geared to the engine in the usualmanner, and are capable of operating independently of each other. Thedrum la operates the skidding rope or hauling cable c. The cable cextends from the drum la over the sheave m on the support A, and at itsother end farthest from the engine passes over the sheave depending fromthe carriage o which travels upon the cable a.

The carriage 0, as shown in Fig. 5, is of simple construction, andconsists of a frame work of iron connecting the two flanged wheelsrunning upon the tram-rope a, and a depending sheave. The skidding cablec passing over the sheave depending from the carriage 0 has attached toits free end a pair of tongs of the ordinary pattern for gripping thelogs to be conveyed. Attached to the carriage o is the rope or cable dwhich passes from the carriage around the sheave 'It on the support B,and back over the sheave p suspended between the supports D, D, and

the sheave q on the support A to the drum Z upon which it is wound. Theauxiliary system between the supports A and C consists further of theshort cable r which is passed through the sheave s suspended upon theauxiliary cable b and is wound upon the drum y, and has attached to itsfree end a pair of gripping tongs similar to those attached to the freeend of the cable c of the main system. The sheave s is kept in itsproperposition on the cable b by the guy t fastened to the support C, and thetension of the cable r as shown in Fig. 3.

When in use my invention operates as follows: The vehicle to be loadedwith logs is stationed between the supports A and C and under the sheaves. The support B being located within the forest where the trees arebeing felled, the traveling carriage o is run out from the support A onthe tram-rope a to the point where lie the logs to be transported byoperating the drum Z, and thus hauling upon the tail rope or cable d.Simultaneously, by the traction of the cable d and carriage o, thehauling rope e is drawn out and unwound from the drum 7a. When thecarriage is over the log to be transported, the tongs attached to thefree end of the cablec are gripped upon the log, and the drum k is setin motion to wind the cable c, and the drum Z is held under control by abrake to keep the tail rope d under sufficient tension to raise the logto the desired height. The first eifect is to raise one end of the logbeing conveyed clear from the ground, and then the carriage with the logseveral swinging saddles.

suspended thereunder moves toward the support A. When it reaches thesheave 7i the log is detached from the tongs of the cable c, and thetongs attached to the auxiliary cable r are gripped upon it, and thedrum j being set in motion, the log is quickly raised to a point abovethe car or wagon, and deposited thereon. This operation is repeateduntil all the trees on the line of the tramway are felled and the logsremoved. It will be observed that the points of greatest deflection ofthe tram-rope a are midway the supports or at the middles of the spans,and when the carriage is at these points the weight w'forming thecompensating balance is slightly raised; but as the loaded carriageapproaches the intermediate supports its weight is thrown more jimmediately thereon, and the weight w sinks Vslightly thus retractingthe shifting saddle between the intermediate supports, and thedeflection in the tram-rope a being thus mate- 5 rially reduced, thecarriage is enabled to pass over the saddle onto the next span of the`tram-rope without danger of derailment. ',When the trees along the lineof the tramway are all removed, the tramway is shifted,

the structure being moved around in circles having the supports A and Cfor their centers, until all the timber within those circles f isremoved, when it becomes necessary to locate a new center of operations,and extend the railway or wagon road to it. It will thus be seen that agreat saving of time and labor is effected by securing a greater lengthof tramway than is practicable under the systems now in use for suchpurposes.

In construction the sheave h is secured to the tram-rope a at thedesired point to give the correct length of span; and the tram-rope lmay, if desired, be made in as many sections as there are spans in theapparatus, these several sections being joined together in the Insetting up the plant the cable Z) is passed about the sheaves t', ft2,t" and h as shown in Fig. 2. The loading cable r wound upon the drum jis temporarily passed through a sheave n near the foot of the support A,and attached to the auxiliary cable b at or near the point marked x inany suitable temporary manner, and by starting the drum j the entiresystem of carrying cables is brought to the proper position and tension,and the auxiliary cable b while under tension from the drum j isattached to the support A at fm. The loading cable r is then disengagedfrom the auxiliary cable b and passed over the sheave s, and the tongsare attached to its end as shown in Fig. 3, and it is ready for use inloading.

I make no claim at this time for the improved Swingin g saddle employedin the above described structure as Ihave previously made applicationfor patent therefor in application Serial No. il5,'7-28.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- 1. In anaerial tramway, a tram-rope in IOO IIO

combination with an automatically adjustable end support, and a movableYintermediate support; substantially as shown and described.

2. In an aerial tramway, an automatically adjustable main tram-rope incombination with an automatically adjustable auxiliary supporting cable,substantially as shown and described.

3. In an aerial tramway, a tram-rope in combination with a vcompensatingbalance to sustain the load to 'be carried on the tramrope, movableintermediate support, a lcarriage running upon the tram-rope and cablesto operate the same, substantially as shown r 5 and described.

JOSEPH H. DICKINSON. Witnesses:

L. SCHooNoVER,

S. B. HUTCHINSON.

